In a statement on Wednesday, Google confirmed Johansen's Video Viewer tweak. The company noted that the code was not a hack and did not in any way compromise Google's systems.

"This modification of Google's open-source video viewer does not compromise the integrity and security of content available from Google Video in any way," the Mountain View, Calif., search company said.

Google is advising people not to install Johansen's software on top of Video Viewer. "It could result in security vulnerabilities on their computer and may disrupt their computer's ability to access Google Video," it said in the statement.